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biedergb

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Everything posted by biedergb

  1. biedergb
    Will Inman with better results: 4 IP, 0 R, 5 K But he did walk 5 batters, and had 1 WP (with 2 BB, 2K and the wild pitch all in the 1st inning) So after his first 3 disastrous outings, he's now allowed just 4 ER in about 17 IP, with 18 K to 9 BB.
  2. biedergb
    I got down about the losses recently. Then I read some threads here about Suppan, Bush, Capuano, Weeks, Gwynn. Then I thought to myself, we would have loved to have any one of those guys on our team about 6-9 years ago. In fact Suppan/Bush/Capuano would have been the "aces" of our teams pre-Sheets. Then I remember we still have Ben Sheets, and Cordero, Villanueva, Gallardo. And Prince, Ryan, JJ and Corey.
  3. biedergb
    Wasn't Manny on the Blast from the Past a few weeks back? How many of those guys make it to the Hot Sheet? It seems the Blast from the Past is former prospects who have a nice run. Hopefully Manny will prove he is a current prospect.
  4. biedergb
    Thanks for the info. X -- good call on the Brian Giles comp. That what was bothering me, I couldn't think of a OF who was 5'9"-5'10" that wasn't a speedy CF-type, and Caleb seems to be more of an impact hitter. I never meant to question his abilities by brining size up. I figured this is a can of worms that will open itself up, a la Angel Salome from a few years back, and hopefully Caleb will have the same success Angel has had the past couple of years.
  5. biedergb
    I've been meaning to start a thread about him, because I know that Patrick thought he was one of the steals of the draft, but I keep looking at his height/weight, and thinking that's about my size. Is he David Eckstein small? And, I know there are always kids in other sports who enter college as scrawny freshman, and then they have a growth spurt. Anything in Caleb's bloodlines to suggest this may happen? Either way, if you can hit the ball then there's always a future for you in baseball.
  6. biedergb
    I think his power, the fact that the FSL is tough on hitters and of course he was a 3rd round selection last year all figure into this. The MO of the Brewers has been to challenge and move up the advanced college hitters (especially higher round selecctions like Weeks, Braun) as long as they are doing what the organization has asked them to work on (ie, taking more pitches) knowing that that sometimes doesn't translate into stats. Caufield appears to be lost in the numbers game and may be left behind as the veteran leader for the WV club in the 2nd half. But there are many (myself included) who look forward to see what he can do at higher levels.
  7. biedergb
    Also in regard to 100 mph fastball. Just because a guy can throw it (and reportedly has) doesn't mean he will in games. Some relievers do because they are in for an inning or so, and you need to maximize your assets and get outs quickly. Starters need to change speeds, location, etc to get guys out multiple times. It's entirely probable that he was asked or taught to tone down on the speed a few mph to gain better control (and maybe save his arm). In fact didn't Neugebauer even admit to that fact that he was a better pitcher once he stopped trying to throw 96-98 every time out. (Unfortunately he probably learned it too later to save his arm).
  8. biedergb
    As the title implies, which was a more exciting time to follow Brewers minor league system, 2004 or 2007? 2004: We were ranked the top farm system in baseball by Baseball America, and we had several top notch impact players, highlighted by many current players: Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, JJ Hardy, Corey Hart, as well as others who were highly ranked (like Krynzel). In addition we had a bunch of pitchers that were highly thought of in Eveland, Parra, Jones, Hendrickson among others. But the minor league teams were like the pro team, and they didn't win. Only Beloit and Helena had winning records but no one made the playoffs (if memory serves correctly). We had a debacle both in Milwaukee and in High Desert (high A). Looking through the POwer 50 and the players from that year, we had high end talent, but not a lot of depth. 2007: We graduated a lot of the top end talent, and now we have moved our top 2 into the Big Show (Braun, Gallardo), but the cupboard isn't bare. While not Fielder/Weeks/Hardy/Hart pedigree, we have a bunch of good players, and a some nice pitching depth. But all levels from the parent club through low-A are in first place, and 2 have clinched a first half title (and the playoff birth that comes along with it). Now of course we'd love the best of both worlds -- have Fielder, Hardy, etc in the bigs with another Fielder, Hardy, Weeks, etc on the way. But just in terms of what is fun to follow -- high profile prospects doing well individually, or some very good prospects and sleepers who are all collectively doing well as teams in the season?
  9. biedergb
    WHY did he start the year @ WV in the first place? -WHY, after his nice start, did he get demoted. West Virginia is the low-A affiliate, so he went from rookie league to low-A as is the expected course. He was then recently promoted to Brevard County, which is the high-A (or A+) affiliate in the Florida State League.
  10. biedergb
    Not to take this topic off thread, but you can have tendonitis wherever you have tendons -- and that is all joints. Now shoulder tendonitis usually is named after the most common tendons in the joint (rotator cuff), so it's aka rotator cuff tendonitis.
  11. biedergb
    Interesting of the 12 players mentioned that did not make the list, 3 are Brewers (yo, alcides and cain!)
  12. biedergb
    I agree with you Mass. I think informing folks about what is going on is the right thing to do. I like the way you do it, though, with the subtle (but not too subtle) hints to avoid offending those of the "don't talk about it or you'll jinx it" camp.
  13. biedergb
    It's amazing that Brevard is only 6-6. They have the best team batting average (nearly .300 as a team!) and the 4th best ERA. I guess the lack of power and/or timely hitting is to blame. But now that Cain, etc are starting to hit, soon the whole team has batting averages in the .280-.350 range.
  14. biedergb
    It went from #1, to #3, to #5 and now this year is ranked #7. That in itself is a testament to the scouting department. Our #1 rating was mostly due to Fielder & Weeks (with Hart, Hardy and probably Hendrickson among others). All of that talent, I mean severall top prospects have been graduated to the majors, and we are still considered above average in terms of prospects. Sure Jones, Parra, Rogers have had injury bugs, but they are not done. Pitching prospects are the hardest things to come by. Even looking at the best pitchers in baseball, many came via trades (like J. Santana, D. Willis, even vets like Pedro or Schilling) and a few even came into their own after injuries (like Carpenter). Roger Clemens clones don't come around every year. The 2004 draft not-withstanding, it's not very common to draft a pitcher and have him succeed quickly. I say that the fact that this franchise had so few players developed before Jack Z. came here (just look at the drafts from 1991-199http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/glasses.gif , and we have a bunch of homegrown players, with a farm system that still has severall tiers of good prospects (Braun/Gallardo, followed by Inman, Cain, Fermaint, Jeffress). And this is despite several injuries and/or disappointments (ie, Krynzel, Jones) Now, he should earn his praise if this trend continues for a few more years, otherwise he'll look like a product of our annually high draft picks.
  15. biedergb
    Rogers and Jones were taken pretty much as high as they were going to I thought Jones was regarded as the top prep pitcher that year. I know we took him high (we had the ? 7th pick), so it's not like he "fell", but he was considered a top 5 pick in BA that year if I recall correctly. Also, on Rogers, I think it's interesting that one aspect that was suggested draft day (most likely by a poster here, but it could have come from the team) was that as a New Englander he had less wear and tear on his arm, as opposed to Bailey, and therefore was less of an injury risk. Finally, with guys like Rogers, Jones, etc. it seems like we were going for home runs in the first round, and then took some savvy (?safer) picks later (Gallardo, Inman, Hardy). I guess it's better than the 90's with "safe" 1st rounders, and reaches in the later rounds, were we struck out on all counts.
  16. biedergb
    It's interesting that 4 of the top 6 prospects in the southern league were mid-season call ups from the FSL. In fact the FSL top #1-3 and the SL top#1-3 are the same (Bailey, Gallardo, Elbert), and the FSL # 4 (Braun) is the #6 in the SL. Is that a testament to the quality of prospects in the FSL, or how few top prospects were in the Southern League? Or just a fluke year that 4 of the top prospects in all the game were in the same 2 leagues?
  17. biedergb
    those innings will creep up quickly when you pitch 6-8 IP per outing. Pretty impressive rookie campaign. Looking forward to what he can do next season.
  18. biedergb
    Didn't we just draft a guy who was listed as 6' 0" (Jeremy Jeffress) in the first round? Athletes are athletes, and while size helps, it's not all. How many guys have ideal size or "body type" who never make it? And in terms of height, the difference between 5' 11" and 6' 1" isn't a lot when judging height from a distance. Wasn't the knock on shorter pitcher the fact that they have maximum effort to reach top velocity. Well if you can hit 94-97 mph on the gun at 5' 11", you've overcome that hurdle, and then your success is probably as good as the next guy. The second knock is that smaller frames tend to "wear down". But a guy like Inman is listed as 200-210 lbs, which is not small.
  19. biedergb
    Well there had been a write up this past spring about the players who have been suspended (I think the write up occured about when Alex Sanchez was suspended) about the high proportion of Latin players who are violating the rules. And an argument was made that emphasis of the rules were either not made to the Latin players, or it was not translated (ie, written, or spoken via other players or coaches) properly. Now I generally agree with the type of arguement that jackalope02ca made. While I wasn't much of an athlete in high school or college, I still had enough sense to avoid making the types of mistakes that can effect or ruin a career. But, the disparity between US/Canadian players and Latin players in terms of the proportion of those suspended still makes it an interesting debate. And with regard to Luis, I would have to side with those who state that let him learn his lesson, and give him a second chance, I mean he is only 17.
  20. biedergb
    The pitching lines from our starters last night was pretty impressive. Count me in as one of Steve Garrison's fans, and is Roque Mercedes proving Toby's faith was not misplaced (or is he going Mark Rogers on us?) Villanueva (L, 7-1) 6.0 5 2 2 2 5 Gallardo (W, 5-2) 8.0 5 2 2 1 8 Garrison (W, 7-6) 6.0 2 0 0 1 4 Mercedes (W, 4-4) 6.0 4 2 0 0 2 TOTAL, 3W, 1L 26.0IP 16H 6R 4ER 4BB 19SO
  21. biedergb
    I am no way one of the "experts" on this board, but I'll chime in because I've got a slow day at work... Part of that is the fact that over the past couple of seasons we have promoted Billy Hall, Rickie Weeks and JJ Hardy as prospects. So I see 3 effects that has: 1) we graduated 3 very high quality middle infielders from the prospect ranks; 2) we have high expectations for other infielders as we compare them; to Weeks/Hall/Hardy; and 3) these positions are not seens as a need because of the presence of Weeks/Hall/Hardy. Now Hernan Iribarren, Alcides Escobar, Mike Bell, Ryan Crew and the recently drafted Brent Brewer (although he may not stick in the infield) are the next tier of middle infielders. Also, things fluctuate pretty quickly. It was not too long ago we had only CF prospects and no "corner" OF prospects. That has changed. So I don't see the management choosing middle infielders over other players to fill a "need". They will very likely stick to their "best player available" philosophy that has stocked our system to date. A position to target is catcher as it seems hard to develop a good hitting catcher (we've drafted a bunch and have nothing to show for it yet ...)
  22. biedergb
    To echo a statement that molitor fan wrote on the previous page. I was looking back at previous Power 50's. If you take our April 2005 list, we graduated or traded 9 of the top 14 prospects on that list. (Weeks, Hardy, Fielder, Capellan, Hart, Hendrickson, Eveland; traded de la Rosa and N. Cruz). Considering that mass exodus over 1 1/2 seasons, the fact we still have a quality 1-15 is impressive. A lot of players from the 2004-2006 drafts have emerged (Inman, Gallardo, Braun are the top 3 now). And we have other exciting prospects (like Cain, Fermaint) who have continued to impress and move up the chain. Obviously top picks like Rogers, Jeffress are high on potential alone right now, but that's what these lists are about. Add in the continued recovery of Parra and M. Jones, and it's like 2 new prospects have been added. Then the middle ranks, have a handful of guys poised to replace the upper echelon if they progress well, like Steve Garrison, Mat Gamel, Michael Brantley, Andy Bouchie, Chris Errecart, and the Latin trio (Mercedes, Pascual, L. Ramirez). Speaking of Mat Gamel, somewhere he was compared to DJ Clark who ranked as high as about 11 in the P50. In previous years, a guy like Mat Gamel would have probably been top 15 based on numbers and power potential, but he's not currently top 25 (on Toby's lists -- other posters would have rated him higher). Obviously the top 3-4 will not be able to exceed the potential we had in Weeks/Hardy/Fielder, but it will be interesting to see where our organization ranks because of our depth and turn-around, in terms of Minor League Systems Rankings (by BA, etc).
  23. biedergb
    Well I think an argument could be made that Brantley was not "set" as the WV outfielder, but possibly beat out Chapman. Brantley was only drafted last year, and had 34 AB at Helena. Chapman spent all of last season at Helena, and was less than impressive statistically. But I don't think we would have been shocked in April to have seen Brantley slated Helena to start the season in Helena. Hopefully, he turns this season (and possible Pioneer League MVP) into momentum and has success in full A ball.
  24. biedergb
    The rules governing the draft state the following, "College players, from four-year colleges who have either completed their junior or senior years or are at least 21 years old" Edit: added source: BA Link So if they are 19 year old HS seniors now, then they would be eligible after their sophomore season in 2008. Otherwise it's 2009 eligible. I believe if they transfer to a JuCo from a 4 year program during or after a season they would be eligible that following spring.
  25. biedergb
    Ho hum... Some more good pitching lines from Dillard and Inman. Also Mike Jones with 4 strong innings, good to see him with a few solids outings in a row. And Villanueva with a good start so far.
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